Gothenburg Container Traffic Hits All-Time High

Gothenburg’s container traffic hit an all-time high in the first half of 2012 as strong Swedish exports to markets outside Europe outweighed lower imports and weak trade flows within Europe.

Scandinavia’s largest port boosted box traffic by 3 percent from a year ago to 458,000 20-foot-equivalent units in the six months to June 30.

The increased volume, contrasting with lower traffic at most north European ports, was partly driven by the launch by the G6 Alliance of a new deep-sea service to Asia in the spring.

“The bulk of container exports from Sweden pass through the port of Gothenburg and these strong freight flows, mainly to Asia and the USA, are extremely encouraging,” said Magnus Karestedt, chief executive of the Port of Gothenburg.